Thai top court sends former PM Thaksin Shinawatra to one year in jail

The ruling relates to a previous conviction where he was sentenced to prison for corruption and abuse of power but did not go to jail and was moved to a police hospital.

The country's Supreme Court today ruled that the hospital stay of the 76-year-old premier, from August 2023 to February 2024, after he returned to Thailand following 15 years of self-imposed exile, was not lawful and cannot be counted as time served, according to the Bangkok Post.

Shortly after the ruling was announced, Thaksin posted on his social media account, stating that he accepted the court verdict, the Thai news agency TNAMCOT reported.

The outlet added that the former PM also expressed gratitude to the King, who granted a pardon and reduced his prison sentence to one year, and also thanked the public for their support.

Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and spent his time in self-imposed exile outside the country. After his return to the country on August 22, 2023, the Pheu Thai Party leader was tried for abuse of authority and conflict of interest while serving as prime minister before 2006 and sentenced to eight years in jail.

TNAMCOT reported that on the same night, he was transferred from Bangkok Special Remand Prison to the Police General Hospital, citing a medical emergency. Thaksin remained in the hospital until he was granted parole in February 2024, six months after Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn granted him a pardon, reducing his eight-year sentence to one year, the news outlet reported.

Judges today in their ruling said Thaksin had no severe illness and could have been treated in jail, adding both he and his doctors had intentionally prolonged his hospital stay.

Visuals from Thai PBS News showed Thaksin getting into a Department of Corrections vehicle and leaving the Supreme Court and heading to the special prison following the court's ruling.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra decried the ruling, adding that Thaksin was the first Thai prime minister to go to prison despite the "good he has done for the country."

Paetongtarn was herself removed as Prime Minister by Thailand's Constitutional Court less than two weeks ago over a leaked phone call she had with Cambodia's former leader that breached ethics rules. (ANI)